They are short-tailed and stout birds which forage in pairs in dense undergrowth close to the ground and their presence is indicated by their distinctive calls.

Abbott's babbler was described by the English zoologist Edward Blyth in 1845 and given the binomial name Malacocincla abbotti.

The specific name abbotti was chosen by Blyth to honour the specimen collector, Lieutenant Colonel J. R. Abbott (1811–1888), who served in British India as Assistant Commissioner of the Arakan from 1837 to 1845.

[4][5][6] An isolated population occurs in the Visakhapatnam Ghats, well separated from the nearest main distribution along the Himalayas and was named after Indian ornithologist K.S.R.

It has a short tail and heavy bill; it is drab olive-brown with bright rusty lower flanks and vent, a grayish-white throat and breast, and variable pale gray supercilium and lores.

It is also resident in east and south Bangladesh (around Jessore and Khulna[14]), and the Eastern Ghats in northeast Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

They breed from April to July (summer monsoon), with the nest being a carefully placed but bulky cup low in palms or other undergrowth.

When disturbed at the nest, the birds slip over the edge and fly with labored wing beats and then hop out of sight.

The evening group song consists of a recurrent sputtering "churrr" sound, which is low and slurred; ending with a sharp "chreep".